Thread conditioning device



Sept-l, 1936. D. z. KRIEBEL 2,052,980

THREAD CONDITIONING DEVICE Filed July 26, 1954 Ed 9.1. Y

Zigqfi 5 5 26 INVENTOR WITNESS I 5y v w Patented Sept. 1, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THREAD CONDITIONING DEVICE Application July 26, 1934, Serial No. 737,017

12 Claims. (Cl. 91-32) It is customary to moisten silk, rayon and other thread just prior to its being knitted into a fabric, for example, on a knitting machine such as used for the manufacture of full fashioned hosiery, by drawing the thread through a body of suitable fluid in a container located adjacent the machine, and various devices have been employed for removing excess fluid from the thread after its emergence from the body thereof with a view 10 to insuring its delivery to the machine in proper condition. As far as I am aware, however, none of these devices has been entirely satisfactory for its intended purpose, being either incapable of performing it properly or too expensive or complicated for practical use in silk mills and the like. In this connection, it must be remembered that even a mill of moderate size requires a very large number of such devices so that the expense entailed in their installation is heavy and an 20 essential requirement, therefore, for a practically satisfactory device is low cost; as a consequence, while some of the devices which have heretofore been proposed for conditioning threads may be capable of adequately performing that function, 25 they are so expensive as to have precluded'widespread acceptance by the trade. It is moreover essential that a conditioning device be of very simple construction and so designed that the thread can be led through and arranged in op- 30 erative relation with it in a minimum of time, conditions which have tended to preclude the general adoption'of certain other of the devices which have hitherto been proposed. For these and other reasons, many mills merely dispose 5 more or less absorbent pads adjacent the exit side of the fluid tank and lead the threads thereover as they emerge from the fluid, but this procedure is objectionable in that, among other things, the pads must be frequently renewed, the 40 threads leave the pads in a more or less unevenly moistened condition, and the presence of the wet pads in the vicinity of the knitting machines often results in the rusting of the latter.

It is therefore an object of my invention to pro- 45 vide a thread conditioning device not open to the foregoing and other objections incident to those hitherto proposed, which is therefore adapted to deliver the thread to the knitting or other machine in which it is to be used in properly and 50 uniformly moistened. condition; which is simple in design and can be marketed at a price sumciently low to appeal to the trade; which is so constructed that the thread can be led through and arranged in operative relation to the device 55 in a minimum of time; which is virtually indestructible under normal conditions of use so that renewals or replacements because of wear are largely if not entirely eliminated; which is effective to place a certain amount of drag on the thread as it passes to the knitting machine so 5 that the thread is delivered thereto at a uniform tension, and which is effective to insure the thorough impregnation of all the fibres of the thread with the moistem'ng fluid.

Further objects of the invention are the provision of a device of the character aforesaid which can-be readily installed in association with the moistening tanks and/or other apparatus now commonly in use without requiring any material reconstruction or rearrangement thereof so that it may be substituted for the pads or other instrumentalities hitherto employed therewith in any given mill without any material expense other than that involved in its purchase.

Other objects of the invention as well as novel features of design, construction and arrangement comprehended thereby are hereinafter more particularly pointed out or will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a view of the conditioning device in operative association with a fluid tank, the former being shown in side elevation and the latter in vertical section;

Fig. 2 is a composite view showing the two members of the conditioning device removed from the tank and slightly spaced apart as they appear just prior to assembly, portions of each member being broken away into central longitudinal section and other portions being shown in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a composite end view of the parts shown in Fig. 2 with a portion of the lower member broken away into section;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the under face of the upper member, and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the upper face of the lower member.

Like reference symbols are used to designate the same parts in the several figures.

More particularly, the fluid container or tank A shown in Fig. 1, which holds the moistening fluid, may desirably be provided with some form of means for insuring a constant depth of immersion of the thread irrespective of the quantity of fluid in the container, such as a floating roller R, having trunnions at its extremities vertically slidable in grooves G in the container end walls.

under which the thread T is led or, in fact, with any of the other means commonly utilized for the purpose which constitute no part of the present invention; the thread conditioning device, generally designated as C, is arranged to receive the thread after it emerges. from the fluid and deliver it adjacent the exit side of the container for subsequent passage to the knitting machine or other point at which it is to be usedf To this end, the conditioner is supported in any convenient way adjacent the exit side of the tank, preferably overhanging the body of fluid therein, and while various means may be employed to effect this support, I prefer to form in the lower member of the conditioner near one of its ends a transverse groove as hereinafter more fully described adapted to receive the upper edge of the container and to provide some suitable element such as a rod D extending parallel to the sides of the tank and supported at its extremities by the ends of the latter on which the other end of the conditioner can rest; thus, the conditioner may be readily applied to or lifted off the tank and when operatively seated thereon, is prevented from sliding endwise under the pull of the thread by the engagement of theedge of the tank in the groove. However, any other means suitable for supporting the conditioner in operative relation with the fluid container may be employed if preferred,

It will therefore be apparent thatas the thread T is drawn'from the source of supply in the direction indicated by the arrow, it is constrained to pass beneath the surface of the fluid inthe container and thence through the conditioner from which it ultimately passes to the knitting or other machine inwhich it is to be used.

The succeeding figures of the drawing are particularly designed to illustrate the construction of the conditioner itself which, as stated, comprises two complementary yet separable members a, 0, each made of some material such as porcelain, glass or the like, capable of affording a highly finished surface for contact by the thread and unaffected by the moistening fluid, porcelain being usually preferred as it is readily moldable, cheap and otherwise entirely satisfactory.

The upper member c is generally rectangular in planary outline'and desirably fiat on its upper surface. On its under face, as best shown in Fig. 4, it is provided adjacent each end with an inwardly directed longitudinal groove I of substantially semi-circular cross section disposed midway between its sides and, between the inner ends of the grooves, with a series of transverse grooves 2 separated by ridges-3 and preferably extending from one "side of the member to the other. The extremities of the ridges and bottoms 'of the grooves are more or'less curved or rounded while the grooves l are substantially semi-circular in cross section, four ridges 3 and five grooves 2 being preferably provided, though the exact number utilized is a matter of choice. The member is also desirably provided with means for holding it in assembled relation with the member 6', con veniently a pair'of dowels 5 disposed adjacent diagonally opposite corners of the member and projectingfrom' its under face for engagement in corresponding holes in the member 0'.

The lower member 0' is preferably of the same size as the member c and complemental' thereto, its upper face being provided with longitudinal grooves ii extending inwardlyfromits opposite ends and corresponding to" the grooves l-5l in the member a. Between the inner ends of these grooves are a series of transverse grooves l separated by ridges 8, these grooves and ridges generally corresponding to the grooves 2 and ridges 3 in the member 0, while holes 9 adjacent diagonally opposite corners are provided for the reception of the dowels 5. Thus, when the members are brought together from the position indicated in Fig. 2 and the dowels entered in the holes 9, the members are thereafter held from sliding movement with respect to each otherwith their grooved faces in juxtaposed relation, the

relative disposition of the grooves 2 and ridges 3 to the grooves I and ridges 8 of the respective members being such, however, that the ribs on .the upper member align with'the grooves in the lower and vice versa, the longitudinal grooves ll and 6-6 of course also registering with each other and forming closed thread conducting conduits. Preferably, the several transverse ribs terminate substantially coincident with the plane of separation of themembers, but under certaincircumstances they may be made high enough to slightly intercept that plane and, consequently, to correspondingly slightly enter the grooves inthe other member with which they are respectively aligned.

To facilitate drainage of excess fluid from the conditioner, the lower member 0' is also desirably provided with a drain hole ID in each of its grooves extending from the bottom of the groove entirely through the member while, as aforesaid, a transverse groove H is also preferably provided in the under face of the member 0 adjacent that end thereof which isdesigned to rest on the rim of the fluid container, this oove being of a size and shape suitable for receiving the said rim or edge. 7 7

Both members of the conditioner are thus of such character that they can be readily molded as integral finished units of porcelain, glass or other suitable material, thereby obviating the necessity for subsequent finishing work or the like with corresponding enhancement of the cost of production.

In placing the conditioning device in operation, the groove ll of the lower members is hooked over the edge of the fluid container as shown in Fig. 1 so that the major portion of the member overhangs the container and the opposite end is then rested on the rod D or other means designed to support it. The thread is then passed under the roller R or other means for insuring its immersion in the fluid and merely laid over the upper face of the member 0 in registry with the grooves 6-9-5 and across the top of the ridges 8. The upper member 0 is a then seated on the lower member with the dowels 5+5 in the corresponding holes 9-9, thus aligning its grooves I-I with the grooves 66 and bringing the ends of its ridges into contactwith the adjacent portion of the thread which is thereby to some extent forced downwardly into the grooves 1 and upwardly into the grooves 2 by the points of the ridges substantially as indicated in Fig. 1. As the thread is thereafter drawn through the conditioner by the knitting machine or other apparatus to whichit is being supplied, it is caused to traverse a tortuous path defined by the various transverse ridges and grooves which results in the moistening fluid being very thoroughly worked into the fibres of the thread so as to uniformly moisten the latter, any excess fluid being scraped from the surface of the thread and falling to the bottoms of the grooves! in the lower member, from which it can flow downwardly either through the drain holes in or over the sides of the member and thus return to the container so that no waste of fluid occurs.

Moreover, as the thread moves through the tortuous path defined by the ridges and the grooves, it is subjected to a certain amount of drag, the extent of which is in part determined by the numbers of ridges and grooves provided and their particular contour, which is desirable as it tends to prevent looping or snarling of the thread as it passes. to the knitting machine.

Should it become necessary through breakage of the thread or otherwise, to again introduce it to the conditioner, the upper member of the latter can be lifted off and the thread replaced in position in a minimum time, while whenever the device requires cleaning, it can be removed as a whole from the fluid tank and the members then separated, cleaned and returned to operative position very quickly.

It will of course be appreciated that under normal operating conditions each fluid container is supplied with a plurality of the conditioning devices arranged side by side along its edge so that a number of threads can be simultaneously moistened and conditioned as they are drawn nto the knitting machine, the number of conditioning devices employed being naturally determined by the length of the container with which they are associated and the number of threads passing through it.

While I have herein described a preferred embodiment of my invention with considerable particularity, I do not thereby desire or intend to confine myself specifically thereto as minor changes may be made in its design, construction and arrangement if desired without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. A thread conditioning device comprising a pair of separable complementary members each having a relatively long and narrow longitudinal groove in a portion of its face extending inwardly from its respective ends and a series of transverse grooves between the inner ends of the longitudinal grooves, the said grooves in one of the said members being staggered with relation to the grooves of the other said member, and means for holding the members in operatively assembled relation. with their longitudinal grooves in registry and their respective transverse grooves in staggered relation whereby the former provide relatively long and narrow closed thread guiding conduits for the threadadjacent its points of entry into and exit from the device and the latter a tortuous path for the thread intermediate said conduits.

2. A thread conditioning device comprising a pair of complementary members provided respectively with means on their opposing faces conjointly operative to hold the members in nonslidable assembled relation but permitting a quick disconnection of one member entirely free from the other member, each member also having a, relatively long and narrow longitudinal groove on its opposing faces extending inwardly from its respective ends and a series of transverse grooves and ridges between the inner ends of the longitudinal grooves, the said grooves and. ridges of one of the members being staggered with relation to the grooves and ridges of the other said member so that when the members are retained in assembled relation by said holding means, their respective longitudinal grooves are in registry thereby forming relatively long closed thread guiding conduits, and their respectivetransverse grooves and ridges lie in longitudinally staggered relation with the ridges on one member aligned with the transverse grooves on the other. i

3. A thread conditioning device comprising a pair of complementary members of substantially uniform planary outline and separable on a common plane, the opposing face of each memher having a series of transverse grooves and ridges which are staggered with relation to one another intermediate of the ends of the members, and means on the face of one of the members within the planary outline thereof cooperative with complemental means on the face of the other member within its planary outline for restraining the members from sliding movement parallel to said plane when the members are in operatively assembled relation with the ridges of one member spacedly aligning with the grooves in the other.

4. Athread conditioning device comprising a pairof complementary members each having a face, the end face portions of one of the members being adapted for engagement with the corresponding end face portions of the other member when the members are in operatively assembled relation, a plurality of transverse grooves and ridges intermediate of said end face portions, the grooves and ridges of one member being staggered with relation to the grooves and ridges of the other member, and a relatively long and narrow longitudinal groove extending outwardly from the outermost of one of the transverse grooves, and means for holding the two members in non-slidable but separable relation with the ridges of one member in spaced alignment with the transverse grooves in the other and with their respective longitudinal grooves in registry, the registered longitudinal groove thereby forming a. relatively long and narrow closed thread guiding conduit, and the transverse grooves and ridges providing a tortuous Wiping path for the thread, when so assembled.

5. A thread conditioning device comprising a pair of complementary members of substantially uniform planary outline each having a face, a portion of the face of one member of which is adapted for engagement with the corresponding face portion of the other member when in operatively assembled relation therewith and intersected by a plurality of transverse grooves, at least one of the members also having a relatively long and narrow longitudinal thread-conducting groove extending from its transversely grooved part to one of its ends, each member also comprising means on its face and within its planary outline cooperative with complemental means on the face of the other member within its planary outline for restraining the members from relative sliding movement parallel to said faces when assembled with their respective transverse grooves in spaced longitudinally staggered relation.

6. In a thread conditioning device, a member having in one face a series of transverse grooves and ridges intermediate its ends and a relatively long and narrow longitudinal groove extending from each of the outermost of the transverse grooves to the adjacent end of the member, and in its opposite face a transverse groove adjacent one of its ends.

7'. In a thread conditioning device, ;a member having a series of transverse grooves'in one of its faces, a drainage hole extending from the bottom of each groove to its opposite face, and a relatively longoand narrow longitudinal grooveextending in the first mentioned face from one of the outermost transverse grooves to the adjacent end of themember; V

8. A thread conditioning device comprisinga pair of complementary members each having a face, the end portions of the face of one mem-: her being flat and adapted for contacting engagement with corresponding flat end face portions of the other member when the members are'in operatively assembled relation, each of the members having a plurality of transverse grooves and ridges intermediate said end portions, the grooves and ridges of one member being staggered with relation to the grooves and ridges of the other member, and each member having a relatively long and narrow longitudinal groove in the said fiat end face portions thereof which groove extends outwardly from the two outermost transverse grooves, and means forholding the two members in non-slidable but separable relation with the ridges-of one member in spaced-alignment with the transverse grooves in the other member and with their respective longitudinal grooves in'registry thereby forming a relatively long closed thread-guiding conduit at either end ,of the device and a tortuous wiping path for the thread intermediate of the said end conduits.

9. A device as defined in and by claim 8, wherein the. holding means is disposed on the face of each of the members,:the said holding means of one of the members cooperating with'the holding means of the other member to restraln the members from relative sliding movement.

10. A device as defined in and by claim 8, wherein the holding means consists of a projection on'one of. the members and'an opening in the other member; the projection being adapted to be received in said opening for restraining the members from relative sliding movement parallel to said faces when operatively assembled.

11. A device as defined .in and by claim 8,

' wherein the holding means consists of a projection disposed on the fiat end contacting face portion of one member and an openingin the flat end contacting face portion of the other member, the projection being adapted to be received in said opening for the purpose stated. 7

12. A device as defined in and by claim- 8, wherein the complementary members are of substantially rectangular planary outline.

DURAN T Z. KRIEBELV 

